MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) -- Tiger Woods played so poorly losing his first match, Davis Love III might have been tempted to sit him down Friday afternoon in the Ryder Cup.
The way his day ended encircled by thousands of fans in the dusk at Medinah Country Club, Woods might have wished Love had.
A 12-footer that scraped the left edge of the cup on the final hole left Woods bent over in agony, a big loser again on the first day of the Ryder Cup. With it, a European team beaten badly in every other afternoon match suddenly had some hope for the weekend.
And Love was left with another decision: Should he sit Woods down for the alternate-shot matches Saturday for the first time in any Ryder Cup he has played in?
The U.S. captain did, meaning Woods will be nothing more than a cheerleader in the morning matches. But Love said it was a decision long in the making, not one based on the results of the first day.
"We just felt like we didn't want anybody to play five matches on this golf course," Love said.
It goes down in the books as two losses in two matches for Woods and playing partner Steve Stricker. But the difference in the two rounds was night and day.
Woods nearly hit his opening tee shot out of bounds, hit a fan on the seventh hole, and struggled to do much of anything in the morning alternate shot matches. Then he went out and made seven birdies in better ball, only to be beaten by a Belgian who couldn't miss.
Almost unbelievably, for the fourth time in seven Ryder Cups for Woods, he left the course on the first day without a point to show for it.